IGN PlayStation Editors' Favorites of 2008

Share.

We call out our personal picks from an amazing year.

By IGN PlayStation Team

2008 was undoubtedly an amazing year for gamers. Pretty much every genre saw some fantastic releases, so much so that almost everyone we talk to was too short on either time or money to play them all. Our overall awards will be unveiled this week, but what did the IGN PlayStation Team love the most this year? Grab a cup of your favorite beverage, a nice snack and we'll tell you.

When I reviewed the game back at the start of '08, I thought it was a flawed but great game. By the end of the year, it was something really, really special. Criterion stood behind the game in one of the best ways I've ever seen a console title supported, offering up tons of free updates that drastically changed how the game was played and what you were capable of doing. As it currently stands, Burnout Paradise features the same spot-on controls of its predecessors with a huge and varied open city to race not only cars but bikes in. The single-player stuff is great, but the online component is phenomenal, and the package as a whole is a must-own.

This is one of the games on my list that I simply haven't played enough of, but what I have played certainly earns it a spot here. It has a perfect blend of rhythm and strategy gaming, a mixture the likes of which you won't see outside of a weird Starbucks order. Its art style is also fantastic and helps to sell the presentation in a big way. I'm not a huge fan of strategy games, but this is one of the two titles from the genre that hit my list this year, which shows just how good of a game it is. Pata-pata-pata-BEYOND!

When it was first rumored that Kratos was hitting the PSP, I was very skeptical. But when I learned it was Ready at Dawn behind the wheel, I knew we were going to be in for something good, and oh boy did those folks deliver. Chains of Olympus is every bit as epic and massive as the two PlayStation 2 titles, which happen to be two of my favorite games of all time. If you're a PSP owner and somehow haven't played this game, it's time to collect the coins from your couch and head to your local game dealer because this is a system-defining title.

PixelJunk Monsters was easily one of the most addictive games I played this year. It wasn't the first time we've seen a Tower Defense game by a long shot, but Monsters was put together so well that I couldn't stop playing it. Watching my little dude dance over an anti-air turret while the ticker counts down to the next wave of guys is one of those nail-biting moments that come rarely these days. Just writing this bit makes me want to play more right now.

I was raised on shooters in the old-school days of Wolfenstein and Doom where enemies came at you quick, in massive numbers and from every direction. I also happen to be a fan of crazy amounts of blood and brain eating zombies, so it didn't take long for me to thrown down $60 on Left 4 Dead, and disappoint it did not. Mowing down a horde of zombies, taking a second to grab some weapons from a gun cabinet and then hearing your teammates yell "Here they come!" is one of those things that simultaneously brings a smile to my face and sweat to my forehead.

I collected the eight hidden stars. If you've done the same, you know how much I love Braid. Taking the basic platforming elements of the NES games of old and coupling it with mind-bending, time-based puzzles was a stroke of genius. Intertwining a story that is as twisted and multi-layered as what you see here was nothing short of amazing. It's not the longest game on my list by any means (at least until you have to wait for two hours to collect one of those stars), but it had the most surprising and jaw-dropping endings that I've played since Shadow of the Colossus. This is exactly what things like Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Store were made for.

I love me some Grand Theft Auto, and the fourth is the best of the bunch. Rockstar North put together one of the most cohesive titles I've ever played, open world or not, and the fact that it is open world just shows how amazing of a job the studio did. I was enjoying the hell out of the game and then I hit the mission entitled "Four Leaf Clover" and was absolutely floored. That mission right there made the whole game for me and I think it's going to be difficult for Rockstar to ever make a better mission. It was just that good.

Having LittleBigPlanet land at #3 for me on the year says a lot about the competition in 2008. Media Molecule's fantastic platformer/create-a-game is such an amazing package that had it only included one half of the experience it still would have been a must-have title. I remember starting the game and thinking that I would just have to plow through the single-player to earn stuff, but the pre-created stuff is so good that it reminds me of the heydays and creativity of the Super Mario Bros. of old. I really can't wait to see what Media Molecule is working on next.

If there's one game that I'll never be able to put as much time into as I would like, it's Fallout 3. While I didn't dig the main storyline (I felt like it rushed to the end), the side quests were so incredibly well put together and thought out that I could play that stuff forever. And the world itself proved to be so involving that I wanted to see what was around every corner and behind every door. The fact that all of it seemed like it had a purpose just goes to show how fantastic of a job that Bethesda did putting it all together.

No game in years, possibly ever, provided me with such an amazing gaming experience as Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. You can play it how you like, either stealthily, full-on action or a mixture of both. Every act was different, and some of the sequences were down-right breathtaking. While I think the whole thing would have been better without the second half of the ending, I would have to search long and hard to find someone who wasn't choked up and floored by one of Snake's final moments in the game. MGS4 was probably the most-hyped game I've ever seen, but for me, every moment lived up to the expectations. Well, except that second part of the ending, but I've forgiven Return of the King for the same thing.

Chris' Thoughts on 2008: This past year was an amazing one for gaming. It may not have been better than 2005 for me, with the likes of God of War, Shadow of the Colossus and Guitar Hero all hitting that year, but it's a very close call. While my Top 10 were somewhat easy picks, there were a ton of games that didn't make the list that probably would any other year. Bionic Commando Rearmed, PixelJunk Eden, Valkyria Chronicles and much more are all definitely worthy of playing and are must-haves. The year was so busy that I still haven't been able to play Dead Space, which I already know is a shame. I'm hoping 2009 shapes up similarly, but unless we see both God of War III and Gran Turismo 5 this year, I don't know how it can. Uncharted 2, at least we'll have you.